We’ve been waiting quite some time for the Mike Tyson film in which Jamie Foxx will portray the former heavyweight king. The film was first spoken of way back in 2014. Foxx, who has already shown how hard he has worked in copying Tyson’s instantly familiar voice, has also been pushing his body hard in an effort at transforming himself into the youngest-ever world heavyweight champ.
In an interview with TMZ Sports, Foxx – who gave a good performance in playing Drew “Bundini” Brown in the 2001 movie “Ali” – spoke of the training regime he has been undertaking in the gym in an effort to look just like Tyson. Foxx has been doing 60 pullups, 60 dips, and 100 pushups a day. Already, Foxx has bulked up considerably. Interestingly, the actor will play both the young Tyson and the older Tyson. Foxx said he will weigh around 216 for his portrayal of the former and around 230 for the latter.
Foxx will, however, use prosthetics to replicate Tyson’s thick legs. “I ain’t got no legs, I ain’t got no calf muscles, so we’re gonna have to get some prosthetics for that,” he said.
There is still no official release date for the film, but Tyson fans can’t wait to see it. Foxx has worked very hard on the project, and it is hoped the finished article does Tyson justice. It sure looks as though this will be the case. We’ve had Tyson films before – both documentaries and movies – but this one looks like being the biggie.
Tyson has, of course, been in the news somewhat himself these past few weeks; his own hard work seeing to it that the soon to be 54-year-old looks to be in the best physical shape he’s been in for years. This, and Tyson’s short video of him hitting the pads, inspired plenty of talk of a comeback. As of now, though, there is still no word of an exhibition bout, much less a “real” fight.
Tyson is far too smart to risk fighting again, say those who know him best. How much better will we fans know Tyson after having watched the forthcoming movie?